Prince’s gold Stratocaster sells for $100,000 to racer Lewis Hamilton

Formula 1 race car driver Lewis Hamilton has ponied up $100,000 to buy the custom gold-leaf Fender Stratocaster guitar that Prince has been playing on tour. Proceeds will go to children’s and community-based organizations.

Hamilton and his girlfriend, actress and Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger, had joined Prince onstage at a concert in Abu Dhabi following the 2010 Grand Prix.

Prince had ordered the guitar from Fender’s Custom Shop in Corona to be a unique component of his “Welcome 2 America Live” tour when it began late last year in New York. The guitar is gold-plated from head to toe, although it is not solid gold, as has sometimes been reported.

He brought the tour to Los Angeles for a planned run of 21 nights at the Forum in Inglewood that started Thursday. The stint continues with three more shows this week — Thursday, Friday and Saturday — and other dates to be announced.